Monday, May 12, 2008

Thoughts from the Missouri Democratic Convention or sausage making in progress – viewer discretion advised…

This bitch was invited to tag along with an at-large delegate candidate to be named later (ALDCtbNL) down to Columbia for the 2008 Missouri Democratic Convention. I was beyond tired after a busy week but too curious to pass that opportunity to observe up…plus the ALDCtbNL is one of the few people in the world a bitch would wake up at 6 o’clock in the morning on a Saturday for (wince).

Anyhoo, we drove towards Columbia and paused to grab a yummified breakfast at the Country Pride restaurant in SmallTownVille Missouri. As we chatted about all things political and presidential I couldn’t help but observe that the people in the restaurant were pretty representative of the diversity that is Missouri. There were older and younger people, gay and straight, various races and gender diversity as well…all gathered to catch all we could eat for $7.49.

I filed that away in my mind and we were off again.

We arrived at the Holiday Inn Select in Columbia, collected our stuff and walked on in. I knew a few folks there…hello Blue Girl Red State and all y’all Show Me Progress folks!!...and was pleased to see that the place was packed.

But then…well, ummm…yeah.

Observation #1…Despite the fact that we live in a world where we can communicate instantly, merge files from one machine to another and send out information to hundreds of people at one time…sigh…there were multiple lists of at-large delegate candidates each containing different names and no master list to be found for clarification.

We went from one registration table (name not listed) to another (name listed) to a nice looking woman with a clip board and a smile (name listed but not as having filled out the proper form) only to be sent back the first table (name still not listed there) and told to find our Congressional District table-based area and start over.

Lawd, have mercy!

Observation #2…Not once were the issues discussed or debated.

Blink.

Oh people made speeches about issues, but it was as if everyone in the room agreed on everything…and we all know that ain’t the case. When I thumbed through the program book I found that it was also devoid of policy statements.

I understand that the nominee will set the agenda and, to a large extent, determine policy…but this bitch can’t help but wonder why Missouri delegates to the convention wouldn’t want to discuss Missouri’s specific take on the issues so they could take that information to Denver and…

…oh fuck it twice then shred.

Observation #3…If a random Missouri voter…for example, this bitch (wink)…walked in and tried to use the 2008 convention as a tool to better understand what Missouri Dems are up to they’d be confused as a motherfucker. And Lawd help them if they try to jump in and participate!

When we walked out the door they had over one hundred one-minute speeches remaining to get through.

And if that doesn’t bring a pain to your Afro then you’re a better bitch than I am.

In conclusion…My mind went back to the folks at the Country Pride restaurant…and then I thought about all the V.I.P. name tags I saw in that convention hall...and I can’t help but feel that my ass would be better represented by the folks at the buffet table than the folks who are probably still making speeches in Columbia.

This is why we need more organization, more transparency...more common sense. This election is too important for things to fall through the cracks. Can you offer your suggestions about the entire voting process from registration to polling observers because I want to make sure I am doing my part and I want to offer help to others.